Mobile and wireless technologies have seen explosive growth over the past several years. This growth has been fueled by better communications, hardware, and more reliable protocols. Wireless service providers are now able to offer their customers an ever-expanding array of features and services, and provide users with unprecedented levels of access to information, resources, and communications. To keep pace with these enhancements, mobile electronic devices (e.g., cellular phones, smartphones, tablets, etc.) have become smaller, more powerful and more feature-rich than ever. Many of these devices now have impressive processing capabilities, large memories, and radios/circuitry for wirelessly sending and receiving information.
Wireless communication technologies have also improved over the past several years. Wireless local area networks are now replacing wired networks in many homes and offices. Short-range wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth® and WiFi, enable high speed communications between mobile electronic devices (e.g., cellular phones, watches, headphones, remote controls, etc.) that are within a relatively short distance of one another (e.g., less than 100 meters for Bluetooth®, etc.).
As mobile device and wireless technologies continue to improve and grow in popularity, short-range wireless technologies are expected to supplant or replace the need for connecting devices together using cables or wires. As part of this evolution, a number of new technologies and standards (e.g., Miracast, etc.) are beginning to emerge that allow high-speed unidirectional wireless communication between electronic devices. The use of these emerging technologies/standards in unconventional ways to provide users of mobile devices with access to new and improved communication services, functionalities, and capabilities will be beneficial to consumers of the mobile devices.